On the Dash:
- Rivian’s robotics spinoff Mind Robotics has raised more than $1 billion in under a year.
- The $400 million round values Mind Robotics at $3.4 billion, up 70% since March.
- AI-powered robots are being trained inside Rivian’s Normal, Ill., factory to address labor shortages.
Rivian is betting robots can solve the labor shortage slowing its factories. The electric vehicle maker’s automation spinoff, Mind Robotics, closed a $400 million funding round Wednesday, pushing its total capital raised past $1 billion and its valuation to $3.4 billion.
That marks a 70% jump from the $2 billion valuation set during Mind Robotics’ Series A in March.
Kleiner Perkins, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, led the round. Incharge Capital, the venture arm of Volkswagen, which is already a Rivian investor also joined the round.
Mind Robotics, based in Palo Alto, Calif., builds AI-powered robots for factory work. The robots are designed to handle physical tasks such as picking up parts, assembling components and manipulating wiring harnesses inside Rivian plants and other manufacturing facilities.
The robots are being trained and deployed inside Rivian’s plant in Normal, Ill., the same factory that produces the trucks and commercial vans dealers are selling today. The company’s long-term plan is to expand beyond Rivian and sell its systems to the broader manufacturing sector.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe founded Mind Robotics in 2025 and serves as its chairman. Rivian holds a stake in the company and is its primary manufacturing partner.
“We are excited about the technology and product roadmap we are developing at Mind, with a focus on scaled deployments,” Scaringe said in a statement. “We are proud to have Kleiner Perkins and our full investor coalition behind us.”
Labor shortages in U.S. manufacturing are the core problem Scaringe says the company was built to solve. He has argued that robots fill roles that manufacturers cannot staff rather than displacing existing workers. The goal, he says, is to make domestic manufacturing cheaper and less dependent on labor availability.
Mind Robotics has now raised three rounds since launching in late 2025: a $115 million seed round, a $500 million Series A in March and Wednesday’s $400 million close. Rivian shares rose 4.2% on the news.
